ACR-News

CO2 refrigeration is one of several green measures adopted in Tesco's new zero carbon store.
The retail giant is describing its newly opened store in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, as the world's first zero carbon supermarket.

Tesco announced it will spend more than £100m with British green technology companies to create thousands of jobs. It says it will spend the money from February 2010 to February 2011.

As well as using CO2 refrigeration, Tesco's new store was built with sustainable wood, LED lighting and a combined heat and power plant powered with renewable fuel. The store exports back any extra electricity generated to the national grid. The retailer says the building will demonstrate over a year that the net CO2 emissions from electricity, gas and refrigerant use is zero (the amount of energy taken from the national grid will be less or equal to the amount put back through low carbon and renewable technologies).

Terry Leahy, Tesco chief executive said: 'We want to cut our own carbon footprint and help suppliers and customers do the same. We'll be a zero carbon business by 2050 but only by working with our suppliers and others across the industry. I'm proud to be opening the worlds first zero carbon supermarket and I believe it's no co-incidence that it has opened here in the UK where many of the innovations which make its construction and operation possible were designed and manufactured.'